The present invention relates generally to article processing and delivery, and specifically to a computer-implemented method and system for optimally routing an article through a network of processing, delivery and routing stations, centrally tracking the location, controlling, and routing the article within the network either individually or as part of a group of articles.
More so today than at any time in the past, businesses and consumers require more efficient, flexible, and economic methods for transportation and delivery of articles such as raw materials, manufactured goods, packages, parcels and parts. Today""s retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers make use of advanced xe2x80x9csupply-chainxe2x80x9d models to maintain minimal inventories and xe2x80x9cwork in progressxe2x80x9d, make maximum use of limited warehousing and storage capabilities, and in the process reduce costs while maintaining output capabilities sufficient to meet changing demand. In order to fully realize the benefits of these modern logistics and manufacturing models, businesses require systems which minimize transit times, allow for maximum control of goods (i.e., the ability to re-route and hold articles in transit) and permit up-to-the-minute tracking of articles. In addition, in order to minimize transportation and translocation costs, it is beneficial to have the ability to consolidate or de-consolidate groups of articles while in transit without loosing the ability to track and route articles individually. It is also important for businesses to have accurate information regarding estimated production, delivery and pick up times for articles, to be able to adjust such times to meet production requirements and to have xe2x80x9cend to endxe2x80x9d accountability of shipments in transit.
In a manufacturing setting, it is also necessary to maintain complete control over the tracking and routing of parts, assemblies, raw materials and other articles as they flow through a production process. Important characteristics of a routing and tracking system for use in a manufacturing situation include the ability to account for and divert parts and partial assemblies to locations in the manufacturing process where they are needed the most. Additionally, such a system must be able to accurately track Work-In-Process in order to actually project production throughput and timing for finished goods. In some industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical device manufacturing and aircraft parts manufacturing, such a system may play an integral role in tracking parts, assemblies or materials for regulatory related purposes. The manufacturing settings in question can be contained within a single building or be spread out geographically and any tracking a routing system used must be flexible enough to allow for either situation or a combination thereof.
In addition to their own manufacturing and supply chain needs, businesses require similar routing, tracking and control features for shipments whose ultimate recipient is a customer, whether it be a consumer or another business. In order to increase customer satisfaction and gain a competitive advantage, suppliers and retailers need to be able to provide the most accurate real time or near real time information regarding the location of an article, and the ability to re-route articles on an item or container basis.
From the consumer standpoint, modern retailing channels, such as mail-order catalogs, broadcast media, and the Internet, have increasingly relied on deliveries to allow purchasing of goods without the necessity of physically visiting traditional xe2x80x9cbrick and mortarxe2x80x9d retail locations. In order to induce more consumers to utilize remote or virtual purchasing channels, it is imperative that delivery options be as convenient as possible and that they approach the options available to buyers in physical stores. It is important for consumers to be able to determine the exact location of an order and to be able to modify shipment routings to suit their convenience. It is also desirable to minimize delivery times by optimizing article delivery routes interactively and in real time based on timely updated fast-changing conditions such as traffic, available equipment, regional weather, etc.
Previous attempts have been made to provide methods for moving delivering, tracking or routing articles as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,642 to Stephenson et al. (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe ""642 patentxe2x80x9d); U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,908 to Manduley et al. (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe ""908 patentxe2x80x9d); U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,264 to Fisher et al. (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe ""264 patentxe2x80x9d); U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,216 to Tyler et al. (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe ""216 patentxe2x80x9d); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,114 to Perkins, III et al. (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe ""114 patentxe2x80x9d); all of which are incorporate herein by reference.
The ""642 patent describes an integrated data collection and transmission system and method for collecting and transmitting data related to package delivery. The system and method utilize various components that are commonly connected via one or both of an infrared communications link and a microradio link. This system is limited in that it only provides tracking capabilities and no routing, re-routing, optimization or consolidation features.
The ""908 patent describes a system for monitoring the delivery of mail pieces passing through multiple stages in a delivery network. The system relies on the application of a unique tracking ID to each piece of mail entering the network and associating with each such piece a set route and scheduled arrival times and dates at each stop along said route. The ID and corresponding schedule is stored in a central database maintained in a computer which is capable of querying local computers at each delivery stop. Upon arrival at each stop along its prescribed route, a mail piece""s ID is recorded and an actual arrival time and date is entered into a local database maintained in said local computers. Periodically, the central computer queries all local stations for presence of a particular item. If an item fails to arrive at a delivery stop on schedule, or is delivered to an incorrect stop, an alarm is triggered which prompts an action within the system to locate a lost item and to expedite its delivery when, and if, it is located.
Because the system described by the ""908 patent assigns a predetermined route to a mail piece upon entry into the delivery network, it can neither account for changing conditions nor change the route of a shipment on that basis. In addition, this system does not permit consolidation or de-consolidation of items in transit or tracking on an item-level basis for mail pieces grouped together for delivery to a common address. Finally, this system only allows for changes to the route of a mail piece when an alarm is triggered and does not permit changes to the final destination of the mail piece. Therefore this system does not provide complete control over delivery of items within it nor does it optimize the delivery route.
The ""264 patent describes a method for automatically generating and transmitting e-mail messages to customers appraising them of tracking events related to their in-transit packages. The invention disclosed by the ""264 patent is directed at merchants who ship goods to customers via common carriers who, in turn, track packages by referring to a unique tracking identification number. This invention allows customers to automatically receive updates, via e-mail, regarding the location of packages after they have been shipped by the merchant. Because it is merely a notification system the invention described in the ""264 patent does not account for conditions affecting routing or delivery nor can it change, or in any way control, the route of a shipment on that, or any other, basis. In addition, the system does not permit consolidation or de-consolidation of items. Therefore this system also does not provide any control over delivery of items within it nor their delivery routes.
The ""216 patent describes a computer-controlled conveying system for use in transporting materials between different locations. The system includes a plurality of carriages for receiving and holding the materials and a track along which the carriages move in transporting the materials. Each of the carriages has a unique identifier, which is used by a system controller to monitor and control the movement of the carriage. A number of transfer units, and corresponding transfer unit controllers, are provided along the track. The transfer unit controllers communicate with a system controller and, in conjunction with the transfer units and information received from the system controller, act to provide the desired path for end of the carriages. This system, however, only deals with fixed routes that do not require adjustment to compensate for variable conditions. In addition, routing in this system cannot be optimized and the system cannot track articles on an item-level basis but only on the basis of an entire carriage(s) load. Moreover, this system does permit tracking of consolidated shipments or de-consolidation of items from a particular carriage without loosing tracking information.
The ""114 patent describes a method for tracking timber and other commodities from the time they are harvested through the time of delivery to its ultimate purchaser. This system makes use of discrete memory devices which are attached to the sides of trucks used to transport the timber. The memory devices may be read and written to by a computer through a field terminal device. Through a field terminal device, a forester transmits all information regarding a particular load of timber immediately after it is cut and loaded on a truck. The information stored can include details about the timber (size of logs, number of logs, etc.) the name of the owner of the logs and handling instructions. At each transit step before ultimate delivery of the timber, the data from the data device is read and recorded on a local personal computer and a new record is written to the data device which may contain new information which can be used to ensure that the timber is routed to the correct location, handled properly, and that no timber is diverted from a truck load. Different transit locations have different capabilities to write and extract information to/from the memory device and to generate reports from such information. This method is limited in that the computers at the different transit locations are not networked and the reports and logs generated by each computer must be manually transmitted via diskettes or e-mailed in order to fully integrate all the data generated. Accordingly, the method operates more as a report-generation tool and xe2x80x9cafter the factxe2x80x9d control than a real-time tracking tool. Moreover, this system does not include any routing features, optimized or otherwise, as it is completely decentralized and all routing decisions are made prior to entry of an item into the system. The system is not capable of automatically routing or re-routing a load based on changing conditions nor does it allow consolidation and de-consolidation of items in a load or loads.
None of the inventions mentioned above describe a system for routing an article through a process delivery network which permits repeated re-optimization of a delivery route based on constantly updated conditions, complete control over the delivery date, time and location of the article, consolidation and de-consolidation of articles, and real-time or near real-time tracking of individual articles by using a centralized database which is easily accessible by all parties interested in the status of articles.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a more flexible, powerful and efficient system and method of routing and tracking articles by calculating an optimized delivery route using timely information regarding available equipment, available warehouse or storage space, a desired delivery date, traffic delays, weather, and other variables, and re-optimizing the route based on updated conditions after each stop along the delivery network.
There is a further need in the art for a system and method for routing articles which permits consolidation of articles from multiple origination points and a common destination address, or, conversely, de-consolidation of articles from a single origination point and multiple destination addresses, while retaining the ability to track articles individually or as part of the consolidated unit.
There is a further need in the art for a system and method for tracking and re-routing articles interactively through an electronic communications network by allowing a user to search a central database for tracking information on an article, whether it is an individual item or part of a group of consolidated articles, using a single unique identification number.
There is a further need in the art for a system and method for tracking and routing articles which allows the user to identify articles while in transit or processing and manually change their routing, specify required stops, alter their final destination, and otherwise control delivery of said articles prior to arrival at their final destinations.
Finally, there is a yet a need in the art for a system and method for tracking and routing articles which automatically detects when an article has been misdirected and re-calculates an optimal routing to the correct destination without requiring the article to xe2x80x9cbacktrackxe2x80x9d to the last correct stop.
The present invention solves significant problems in the art by providing a computer-implemented system and method for routing a articles through a delivery network which permits repeated re-optimization of delivery routes based on timely updated conditions, complete control over the delivery dates, times and locations of the articles, consolidation and de-consolidation of articles, and real-time or near real-time tracking of individual or grouped articles by using a centralized database which is easily accessible by all parties interested in the status of the articles.
Generally described, the computer-implemented centralized system for optimally routing and tracking articles comprises a global computer server accessible through an electronic communications network, the global server comprising: a global database containing a record of routing and tracking information for each article handled by the system; an optimizer for calculating, and periodically re-calculating, an optimal route for each article handled by the system and for updating the global database with changes to the routing and tracking information; a database of route optimization factors accessible by the optimizer for use in the calculation and re-calculation of the optimal route; a tracker enabling users of the system to review the tracking and routing information and to modify the route optimization factor database; a plurality of processing stations arrayed throughout a delivery area for the system; at each such processing station, a local computer server capable of periodically receiving from the global computer server identification, handling and routing instructions for each article to be processed at the processing station and periodically transmitting to the global computer server information regarding all handling activities performed on articles processed at the processing station; at each such processing station, one or more handheld scanning devices capable of receiving from the local computer server article identification information, handling instructions and routing information, and also being capable of collecting identification and handling activity information for each article received at each the processing station and transmitting the identification and handling activity information to the local computer server; and transportation means capable of transporting articles between and among the processing stations, article origination points and article destination points.
Generally described, the computer-implemented method for delivering packages through a centrally optimized tracking and routing system of the present invention comprises the steps of, receiving a package at one of a plurality of processing stations arrayed throughout a delivery area, using a first handheld scanner to collect package identification and final destination data from said package, transmitting said package identification and final destination data along with scanning time and date data to a local computer server, periodically uploading said identification, time, date and final destination data, along with processing station identification data to a global computer server at a centralized location, at said global computer server, incorporating the uploaded information into a global database, calculating an optimal route along the several processing stations for said package based on its current location, final destination and several variable factors, determining whether said optimal route requires the package to be transported to a next processing station or directly to its final destination, updating the record for said package in said global database with said identification information for said next processing station or final destination, downloading said package record information to the local computer server at the processing station where the package is located, transmitting said downloaded package record to said handheld scanner or a second handheld scanner at said processing station, scanning said package to obtain identification information, displaying the next station or final destination identification information for said package, placing the package inside transportation means, such as a truck, and transporting the package to said next processing station or final destination, if the package is transported to a next processing station, repeating the above steps until the package is delivered at its final destination, once the package is transported to its final destination, scanning said package with said first or second handheld scanners or a third handheld scanner immediately prior to delivery and inputting into said handheld scanner delivery information for said package, transmitting said delivery information to the last processing station which processed the package, and uploading said delivery information to said global computer server.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a more flexible, powerful and efficient system and method of routing and tracking articles by calculating an optimized delivery route using timely information regarding available equipment, available warehouse capacity, a desired delivery date, traffic delays, weather, and other variables, and re-optimizing the route based on updated conditions after each stop along the delivery network.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method for routing articles which permits consolidation of articles from multiple origination points and a common destination address, or, conversely, de-consolidation of articles from a single origination point and multiple destination addresses, while retaining the ability to track articles individually or as part of the consolidated unit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method for tracking and re-routing articles interactively through an electronic communications network by allowing a user to search a central database for tracking information on an article, whether it is an individual item or part of a group of consolidated articles, using a single unique identification number.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method for tracking and routing articles which allows the user to identify articles while in transit and manually change their routing, specify required stops, alter their final destination, and otherwise control delivery of said articles prior to arrival at their final destinations.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method for tracking and routing articles which automatically detects when an article has been misdirected and re-calculates an optimal routing to the correct destination without requiring the article to xe2x80x9cbacktrackxe2x80x9d to the last correct stop.